Why Sail?

Because it's easy, fun, efficient, labor-saving and gains you Free Miles!

Being lazy paddlers and open to fun things happening to us, we naturally accept our fate when it is windy, and that fate is to sail. (It explains why we live in The Columbia River Gorge, known for being very windy).

Kayak and canoe sailing with the wrong sail can be frustrating at best, and even dangerous. Sailing with the RIGHT sail can be very efficent, fast and fun. It also can free your hands for fishing, picture taking or even relaxing.

Reducing fatigue can be another benefit. Pick you course and you may be able to double your time out on the water with half the stress, strain or effort. Reduce wrist, elbow, shoulder or back fatigue.

The WindPaddle (patent pending) was designed to harness the wind and provide a safe, lightweight, efficient and easy-to-use sail for downwind or off-the-wind sailing. The degree of off-the-wind sailing depends in part on your boat design, whether you have a rudder or not, and your sailing ability. There are, of course, other considerations such as sail design, boat windage, sea-state and other less-inutitive factors, but we'll leave these for our advanced sailing discussions sure to come.

Sailing a small kayak or canoe using somethimg more than a paddle blade and/or your hat requires you to make a choice; you must choose what kind of sailing you may want to do. Fortunately you have choices to choose from. But the variables are:

-Complexity (of set-up and of operation. i.e. sail "rigs", outriggers, lee-boards, etc.)
-Weight
-Design
-Safety
-Cost

Complexity - Putting a sail on a boat that was not designed to become a "sailboat" can be as simple as holding a golf umbrella out in front of you, and as complex as rigging a deck-mounted mast, cleats, outriggers or pontoons, lee-boards, etc., all intended to enable your kayak or canoe to now be sailed. The choice you must now make is how involved in ths new activity of sailing your boat you want to get. One more thing; if you want to be able to sail upwind it is going to take more of a complex sail rig than if you just want to be blown straight downwind like a stick with a feather stuck in the middle of it. (This can be fun sailing too, IF your destination or route is "DDW" or dead downwind.)

The WindPaddle is a very simple sail rig to mount and to use. There is no deck hardware needed to be screwed to your boat (no holes drilled), it is self-contained so there is no assembly to be done other than fastening to your exsisting deck hardware. Hoisting the WindPaddle is quick and easy as well, with no need to head to shore to set-up the sailrig. Simply attach the two clips of the WindHarness mount to the exsisting deck harware or permimeter cord (Adventutre model) or slip the paddle pouch over the blade of your paddle (both Adventure and Sport model) and you are sailing!

Weight - Here is an obvious consideration for both while in use and when not. Paddling around with extra weight is tiring and sailing with a heavy rig is dangerous. Why? A stable kayak or canoe is where the center of mass (or gravity) is as low in the boat as possible. With a heavy sail rig, the center of mass of you, the boat and its contents is raised. (Imagine paddling with a basket of papayias or something balanced on your head). All is well until a wave comes or something causes you to become unbalanced. A lightweight sail rig keeps the overall center of mass low to the water for the best total stability, both when rigged and when stowed. The WindPaddle weighs no more than 16 ounces.

Design of Sail - Sail design allows for the conversion of wind energy into boat propulsion and of course fun! With the weight and center of mass considerations discussed above, one should want a lightweight sail rig with a low center of effort. In the case of the Adventure WindPaddle model, the center of effort of the sail is right in the middle of the sail, or at about eye-level for most people. The WindPaddle Adventure offers the lowest center of effort of any sail commercially available. The WindPaddle is designed to be a downwind sail for kayaks, canoes and other small-craft. However a high degree of reaching is obtainable depending upon your boat design and to some extent your sailing abilities. Just use the sail lines to "sheet" in the windward sail side and relax the leeward line for reaching conditions. A paddle blade can also be deployed into the water on the leeward side of the boat for "traction".

Safety - A lightwind sail with a low center of effort is a safe sail (read discussions above for more on this). Also, a sail that can be quickly and easily doused is also a very safe sail. A sail's ability to be removed quickly from the force of the wind is a safe sail. The WindPaddle can be instantly lowered to the deck of the boat, thereby instantly being depowered in gusty or high wind conditions. When a sail starts to compromize craft stability, a sail that goes away fast is a good sail. By releasing the control lines/sheets on the Adventure model or lowering the blade-mounted Sport model, the sail is instantly and totally depowered.

Cost - The WindPaddle costs $175.00 and $150.00 MSRP for the Adventure and Sport model respectively. However you do the math, we have the least-expensive sail currently available.